Gonorrhea outbreak behind increase in STI diagnoses in 2022

The number of sexually transmitted infections diagnosed by Sexual Health Centers in the Netherlands increased last year, the public health institute RIVM reported on Thursday. A sharp rise in gonorrhea and chlamydia infections drove the increase.

With 10,600 diagnoses, gonorrhea infections were up 33 percent compared to 2021, when there were 7,964 cases. The number of women and heterosexual men with gonorrhea increased sharply. The positive test rate among women rose from 1.5 to 2.3 percent and among heterosexual men from 1.8 to 2.4 percent. Among men who have sex with men (MSM) and don’t participate in the PrEP experiment, the positive test rate increased slightly from 12.4 to 12.8 percent, and among MSM in the PrEP trial, from 9.2 to 9.8 percent.

Chlamydia cases jumped 21 percent to 24,684 diagnoses last year. The percentage of women who got tested for chlamydia and tested positive rose from 16.2 to 17.9 percent. That percentage among heterosexual men and MSM decreased slightly to 21.2 and 10.9 percent, respectively.

Syphilis diagnoses increased from 1,398 in 2021 to 1,574 in 2021. But there was a slight decrease in the percentage of positive tests among MSM, from 2.6 to 2.3 percent. The number of syphilis diagnoses among women (0.15%) and heterosexual men (0.29%) remained low.

Last year, 144 people were diagnosed with HIV, up from 138 in 2021. Eleven women and eight heterosexual men got an HIV diagnosis last year. The remaining infections were among MSM, including ten people in the PrEP trial. Four of those men were diagnosed upon entry into the trial.

Last year, approximately 8,558 people participated in the trial with PReP - pre-exposure profylaxisis, a combination of medicine that can protect people at high risk of HIV against an infection. Participants are tested for STIs every three months. Last year, 39.8 percent of participants had an STI.

The Sexual Health Centers also identified 1,259 cases of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, last year. The first cases of mpox were reported in the Netherlands in May 2022. Most of the infections, 92 percent, were among MSM.

Last year, a total of 164,715 people went to a Sexual Health Center to be tested for STIs. 21 percent tested positive. “People who received a report through a partner or had symptoms themselves were found to have an STI most often,” the RIVM said.